SNBL invests in animal welfare at US lab

SNBL USA has invested in ‘social housing’ at its lab in Everett, Washington citing ‘recent reductions’ in US non-human primate lab capacity as the driver.

The firm – the US subsidiary of Japan’s Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories – has added 'enrichment tunnels' that permit animals to be socially housed in groups of three or four in standard housing rooms throughout its facility, which it claims provides them with “additional space to move and express their natural behaviours.”

This was echoed by VP of business development Mark Crane, who set the expansion in the context of market capacity for preclinical trials that involve primates.

"With the recent reductions of NHP facilities in the western states, there may be sponsors searching for a West Coast facility that can provide EU-compliant NHP housing for their studies," adding that "Our expanded social housing program, together with our patented procedure cage, makes SNBL the CRO of choice for NHP studies."